This terminology thing is a persistent problem in programming for the web. It can be really damn hard to find documentation on anything because one group of people call something like this "Autocomplete" and another group will say it's "Autosuggest." I think I've even seen "Suggest Ahead" at some point.

I think Autocomplete has become the favored term, though I'm not out polling so I can't say for sure. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's called AutoComplete when it's used on Yahoo because that's what's in their developer notes:

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/autocomplete/
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/examples/au...search_xml.html

I don't think that the term Autocomplete is accurate. It is more a service that compares the letters that you enter to some expected search terms.

I am sure at times it is is is simply an autocomplete -- if I type in G-A-R-G -- it pulls up gargoyles -- but I just tried entering G-A-T -- and the second suggestion offered up is Bill Gates.

Autocomplete is indeed a cool feature. It's getting built into more and more search and data entry interfaces. There are downsides to it of course. I've had payment checks for me get sent to some company in Florida with a similar name to my "Hyperlinked Web Services" name. I'm sure someone just typed in "H-y-p-e-r-l" and then decided "that looks good enough!"

I believe there has been a special Google interface with Autocomplete searches that you could access for a while now. I first saw it almost two years ago. I'm sure something similar for Yahoo has been around for a while now too. It's probably just now getting mainstreamed.

If you use Firefox, the Firefox search input uses autocomplete where the target service supports it.

I have been quite amazed with Yahoo's Search Assist the last few weeks.

I don't know how long Yahoo has had this -- but since I noticed it I have been testing it and have been amazed!

Most any search -- assuming the first word in the search query is rather unique -- will usually bring up an accurate suggestion after just three or four letters are entered!

Just now I wanted to confirm when Daylight Savings Time starts (March 9th) and after typing in D-A-Y-L it offered up 'Daylight Savings Time'

Pic attached.

Try it.